Blogs

A blog is basically a personal webpage where you can post text, photos, pictures, videos, voice clips, slide shows and any number of other things.

Reasons to Blog with your Class:

• A great way to keep parents and grandparents informed about what their children are doing and learning.
• A valuable and real modelled/shared writing experience.
• Students have authentic audiences and reasons to write and so do a better job!
• Giving them awareness of cyber-safety issues.
• Learning about time zones and seasons in different parts of the world.
• They learn proofreading is important. Anything you post on the internet is there for everyone to see, even the mistakes.
• Students have the chance to contribute and belong to online communities, which is a normal part of life now.
• Improving typing skills.
• A way to publish work done in class using the amazing array of online and digital tools we have available to us.
• They receive written feedback from parents and teachers in the form of comments.
• They learn about geography and culture.
• A blog-writing session at the end of the day is a fantastic way to recall and reinforce the learning that happened.
• They learn how to navigate the web and to present digital information.
• Students learn to communicate effectively and meaningfully with text, in the form of comments.
• They learn to give quality feedback to their classmates, as well as their online friends.
• A great way to get direct, relevant answers when you're learning about other parts of the world, or Australia.
• Kids are excited to come to school and don't want to miss a day in case they miss appearing on the blog!

Reasons not to Blog with your Class:

• Ummm, I can't think of a single one!

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• Summary of daily activities
• Showcase student work
• Publish student writing
• Document special events
• Summary of the week
• Student of the week

Video Tutorial for Creating a Blog with Blogger: